It's time to start drilling holes

Wednesday

Feb 6, 2013 at 12:57 PM

The time has finally come to start ice fishing.

Jim Kilchermann Jr.

With a recent cold snap, the ice on my favorite fishing lake is finally safe to walk on. I am planning a nice little fishing trip this week and hope to hit it big. I have the blades on my auger sharpened and the line on my reels is new and strong. I will be placing a couple tip ups as well as jigging for walleye.

We are expecting a rather large snow storm this week so there may also be some snowmobiling in my future. I am spending my off time building lures and getting ready for the spring steelhead run. I will attempt a winter steelhead excursion next week depending on the amount of snow that falls and the ice on the rivers. Once I locate some wintering steelhead, the ice fishing will stop and all of my attention will be focused on the steelies. While I enjoy ice fishing, it is primarily a way to kill time while waiting for the winter run steelhead to arrive.

More to come later and hopfully, a nice report about all of the fish I have caught!